The first in a series of public hearings on developer Kingdon Gould's proposal to establish a quarry in Jessup was mostly a one-man show -- the developer arguing his case.For more than two hours last night, Mr. Gould addressed the Howard County Board of Appeals and a crowd of more than 100 residents. He promised that the quarry project would not have a negative impact on the area."We felt that we did not want to proceed with that operation without having a long-range plan for that area and without support of the state, of the Howard County government and in particular, the citizens in that area," Mr. Gould said.

Earth-rattling tremors. Huge clouds of dust. Declining property values.Those are the complaints of some residents of Rockville, where rock has been mined for 42 years at a stone quarry in this Montgomery County suburb of Washington.And those residents say that's what Jessup homeowners can expect with last week's approval by the Howard County Board of Appeals of a similar operation on a 546-acre site in the eastern part of the county."You don't want to live near one," warned Sally McCarthy, who said a vibration from a dynamite blast at the Bardon Rockville Crushed Stone quarry once knocked a painting off the wall.

Armed with research materials they have gathered over the past several months, opponents of Kingdon Gould's proposal to quarry a site in Jessup tried last night to counter testimony from the developer's experts, much of what they said meeting with objections from the proponents' attorney."

Some Jessup residents feel that they are caught between a rock and a hard place.The rock is called Baltimore gabbro, and it lurks beneath the soil on the edge of town. A quarry to retrieve it -- expected to be approved by the Howard County Board of Appeals tonight -- sounds like such a hard place that some neighbors fear it could endanger their quality of life and scare off newcomers."This will be a monstrosity," said Leah Woodbury, one of several leaders in the fight against the plan for a 546-acre wooded site bordered by single-family home and townhouse communities.

The Howard County Board of Appeals will decide tomorrowwhether to approve a proposed quarry in Jessup, its members said at a meeting last night.Preliminary opinions tallied during the meeting indicated that -- with significant reservations -- the board will approve the controversial project.After about two hours of discussion of how the rock-mining facility would affect surrounding residents, board members said they needed at least one more hour of debate before they could reach a decision.

Opponents of a proposed quarry in Jessup continued their fight against the project last night, arguing before the Howard County Board of Appeals that the mining operation will exacerbate traffic problems on troubled U.S. 1.With charts and traffic statistics she prepared at her "kitchen table," Jessup resident Judy McCleaf attacked developer Kingdon Gould's proposal to quarry rock on a 546-acre wooded site he owns in Jessup."

Worried that it had no authority to enforce developer Kingdon Gould's promises to Jessup residents, the Howard County Board of Appeals delayed a vote last night on Gould's proposal to set up a quarry in Jessup, dragging out one of the longest cases ever before the board."

At a third hearing last night, developer Kingdon Gould's experts continued to pitch his proposal to quarry rock on a 300-acre site in Jessup, and opponents filed a petition to bring in their own experts.Opponents hope to counter testimony from the dozen experts Mr. Gould has lined up to support his proposal before the Howard County Board of Appeals.They didn't have sufficient time or information from Mr. Gould to prepare witnesses before the hearings that began in January, according to their 11-page petition.

When the blasting ends and the dust settles, the proposed quarry site in Jessup will be an "ideal" location for recreation much like other former mining areas that now have tree-lined lakes, golf courses and parks, a landscaping expert told the Howard County Board of Appeals last night.The Jessup site "is one of the better situations," said Anthony Bauer, a landscape architect, speaking on behalf of developer Kingdon Gould Jr., who wants to quarry rock on a 546-acre wooded site east of Interstate 95, west of U.S. 1 and south of Route 175.Bauer's presentation, which included a slide show, seemed to give Gould's plan a boost.

It was a show-and-tell session for the Howard County Board of Appeals, and developer Kingdon Gould's rocks were on display -- crushed rocks, rock piles and rocks at the bottom of a deep pit, waiting to be mined.Eager to demonstrate that a proposed quarry in Jessup would not disrupt the community, Gould's representatives shepherded board members through Gould's quarry in Frederick County this week, highlighting measures taken to prevent that operation from being a nuisance."You can talk about it all you want," said Richard B. Talkin, an attorney representing Gould, "but you really need to get out and see it."

The county Board of Appeals last night gave initial approval to developer Kingdon Gould Jr.'s controversial proposal for a rock quarry in Jessup that is expected yield 1 to 2 million tons of rock a year for 25 years.Board members must sign astatement of approval and until they do, they have the authority to change their decision.Board members plan to review and sign the final document in February.Richard B. Talkin, an attorney for Gould, would not comment last night on the decision, saying, "When we see the final decision, we'll comment on it."

Because of a lengthy hearing on another matter, the Howard County Board of Appeals postponed last night action on developer Kingdon Gould Jr.'s proposal to mine rock on a property he owns in Jessup -- again dragging out one of the longest cases ever before the board."

Worried that it had no authority to enforce developer Kingdon Gould's promises to Jessup residents, the Howard County Board of Appeals delayed a vote last night on Gould's proposal to set up a quarry in Jessup, dragging out one of the longest cases ever before the board."

The Howard County Board of Appeals will decide tomorrowwhether to approve a proposed quarry in Jessup, its members said at a meeting last night.Preliminary opinions tallied during the meeting indicated that -- with significant reservations -- the board will approve the controversial project.After about two hours of discussion of how the rock-mining facility would affect surrounding residents, board members said they needed at least one more hour of debate before they could reach a decision.

After 10 months of testimony about developer Kingdon Gould Jr.'s proposal for a quarry in Jessup, the Howard County Board of Appeals this week finally heard the first of the closing arguments -- with proponents insisting the mining operation would benefit the community, the county and the state."

An attorney and experts backing developer Kingdon Gould's plan to quarry rock at a Jessup site used the last night of testimony on the project this week to try to discredit their opponents' concerns about traffic, protection of the environment and residents' safety.Wednesday night concluded nine months of testimony before the Howard County Board of Appeals. The board will hear closing arguments from the two sides and receive written reports before making its decision -- which is not expected before the end of October.

About noon every day, the ground beneath Church Lane in Cockeysville rumbles as if a subway train were passing through. A plume of smoke fills the air, pinpointing the site of the latest blast at the Redland Genstar quarry, known as the Texas Plant."

Armed with research materials they have gathered over the past several months, opponents of Kingdon Gould's proposal to quarry a site in Jessup tried last night to counter testimony from the developer's experts, much of what they said meeting with objections from the proponents' attorney."

The developer seeking to dig a quarry in Jessup testified against a quarry proposed for his own neighborhood 27 years ago, according to transcripts of a 1969 case presented to the Howard County Board of Appeals this week.Kingdon Gould argued then that a quarry near his home on Murray Hill Road in North Laurel would be unsightly and dusty, create unsafe road conditions and harm his property's value -- the same concerns raised by opponents of the quarry Gould wants to build in Jessup."It's like we were plagiarizing his words [from the earlier case]